Stairway banister



July 6, 1954 H. MOLOW 2,683,022

STAIRWAY BANISTER Filed Aug. 2, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVEN TOR. HENRYMoLow July 6, 1954 H. MOLOW STAIRWAY BANISTER Filed Aug. 2, 195::

2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I av I, 55

INVENTOR.

HENRY MOLOW Patented July 6, 1954 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE STAIRWAYBANISTER Henry Molow, Brooklyn, N. Y., assignor of one.- half to- RobertSpillman, Woodmere, N. Y.

Application August2, 1950, Serial No. 177,151

3 Claims. 1

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in stairwaybanisters and the means for mounting the same.

Many homes are provided with a brick or masonry stoop which consists ofa short flight of stairs with a low retaining wall at either sidethereof, said retaining wall being inclined at the same angle as thestairway. Because of its small height the said retaining wall is uselessas a hand support or banister.

One object of the invention is the provision of a banister for, andmeans for mounting the bani'ster on, each said retaining wall.

Another object of the invention is to construct said mounting means sothat the same is readily securable on a said wall.

Another object of the. invention is to construct the mounting means andthe banister so that the latter is removable from the former withoutremoving the former from the wall.

Still another object of the invention is the pro vision of a lock forholding the mounting means secured on the wall.

For further comprehension of the invention, and of the objects andadvantages thereof, reference will be had to the following descriptionand accompanying drawings, and to the appended claims in which thevarious novel. features of the invention are more particularly setforth.

In the accompanying drawings forming a material part of this disclosure:

Fig. 1 is a sectional view of a masonry stoop such as described above,with a banister of the invention secured on the retaining wall thereof.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional view on line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary view of the banister pole.

Fig. 4 is a sectional. view on. line 4-4 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view on line 55 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 6 is a sectional view similar to Fig. 2- but illustrates amodified. banister and supporting means.

Fig. '7 is a sectional view similar to Fig. 2 and illustrates anotherform of mounting means.

Fig. 8 is a sectional view similar to Fig. 2 but illustrates a furthermodification of the mounting means.

prises a yoke whose arms embrace the upper portion of wall I6, said armsbeing provided with serrations or teeth 2| to grip the side faces of thewall. In order to secure the arms 20 tightly against the wall It, theinner face of each arm is provided, above the wall, with a boss 22 intowhich is fixedly mounted the end of a headless bolt 23. At their innerends the bolts 23 are formed with threads of opposite hand threaded intoa turn buckle 24. The construction is such that by the operation of theturn buckle 24 the arms 26 are compressed tightly against wall I6 withthe teeth imbedded therein.

Projecting upward from the cross bar 25 of the said yoke are a pair ofarms 26 which at their Fig. 9 is a fragmentary sectional view on line9-9 of Fig. 8.

Fig. 10 is enlarged fragmentary perspective view of locking means shownalso in Fig. 9.

Referring to-Fig. 1, the reference numeral l5 indicates a flight ofconcrete steps having on either side thereof a low concrete retainingwall upper ends form a loop 2'1 which embraces the banister bar [1. Inorder to prevent endwise movement of the bar H the same is provided withan annular groove 28, see also Fig. 2, for each loop 2?. The bar isfixedly held in the loops 2? by compressing the latter on the barthrough the medium of a headed bolt passed through one of the arms 26and threaded into the other.-

The arm 20 of the yoke, adjacent their free ends are formed with holes20 see particularly the sectioned left-hand side of Fig. 2, and afterthe yoke has been secured in the desired adjusted position on theretaining wall It, nails 29 are passed through the holes 29 and hammeredinto the side of the wall. The nails 29 serve to retain the brackets l8against any possible slid ng movements along the length of the retainingwall I B andserve to discourage pranksters and others from removing thebanister by loosening the turn buckles 24.

It will be seen, therefore, that the bar I? provides an efiectivebanister for a wall It and is readily secured in place by means of thebrackets l8.

\ Av modified form of the invention is illustrated in Fig. 6 whereinlike parts are given the same reference numerals as hereinabove with aprime added. In this form of the invention the cross bar 25' of the wallembracing yoke of each bracket I8 is surmounted at one end thereof by anarm 3| which at its upper end is bent horizontally above the cross bar25' as at 32. A

banister 33 having the usual keyhole shaped cross-sectional outline issecured atop the arms 32 of a plurality of brackets l8 by screws 34. Inall other respects the brackets 18' are identical with the brackets 18described above.

Another modified form of the invention is illustrated in Fig. '7 andcomprises a pair of metal straps 35 and 35. Each of the straps 35 and 36is secured at its lower end to a side face of a wall 18 by mortar screws31 and arcs outwardly from the wall as it extends toward the upper edgeof the latter. Even with the upper edge of wall [6 the straps 35 and 36are bent inward and abut said upper edge at 38. From the said inwardlybent portions the straps 35 and 36 extend upward above the wall 16-. Theupper ends of the straps 35 and 35 are bent off laterally, the former at43 and the latter at M. The lateral bends 4t and ll abut one another andare interconnected by a screw 42 which also secures a banister 43 atopthe latter.

The construction is such that the banister 43 is effectively securedatop the wall It by a plurality of pairs of straps 35, 36. Further, adegree of resilience is imparted to the banister 43 by the arcing awayfrom wall It of the straps 35 and 36 as the latter extend upward fromthe screws 31.

Another form of the invention is illustrated in Figs. 8, 9 and 10. Inthis form of the invention there is provided a banister bar M like inall respects to the bar I1 described above, said bar being secured attwo or more points in a loop 45 at the upper ends of a pair of bars 46.The loop @5 is tightened on the bar 44 by a screw 41 passed through onebar 46 and threaded into the other. At their lower ends the bars 46 areformed integral with and are secured to a horizontal. bar 58 or At theouter end thereof the bars 48 and 59 are bent downward to embrace thewall 15 and the inner face of each is provided with teeth St to engagethe face of the wall. In order to tighten the downward extensions ofbars 43 and 56 against the'wall 15, a-

screw 52 is passed through one of the bars 46 near its lower end and isthreaded into the other.

In order to relieve the strain on screw 52 when the bars 43 and 50 havebeen tightened on the wall It thereby dovetail joint 53 is providedbetween the bars 58 and 5B. As best shown in Fig. L

10 the components of said joint are bevelled, as at 55 to permit the oneto ride up on the other while the bars 18 and 50 are drawn together.When the edges of said bars meet, the components of the joint snap intoengagement with one another. The screw 52 then can be backed up ifdesired.

The down turned ends of the bars 48 and 50 are formed with holes for thepassage of nails 55 to be hammered into the sides of the wall I6 afterthe brackets have been mounted in position upon the wall by manipulationof the screws 52. The purpose of the nails 55 is the same as thatdescribed in connection with the nails 29 used in the first form of thepresent invention.

It will be seen, therefore, that this form of the invention isessentially the same as the first described form except that the joint53 provides a safeguard against the loosening of the bracket on thewall.

While I have illustrated and described the preferred embodiments of myinvention, it is to be understood that I do not limit myself to theprecise constructions herein disclosed and the right is reserved to allchanges and modifications coming within the scope of the invention asdefined in the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by United States Letters Patent is:

1. A banister mountable on low retaining walls of a flight of stepswhich comprises a banister bar having an anuular groove near either endthereof, and a wall engaging bracket, each bracket comprising a yokehaving side arms for engaging the sides of a wall and a cross "bar, aboss formed on the inner face of each said arm, a headless bolt threadedinto each said boss, a turn buckle into which the inner ends of saidbolts are threaded to draw the said arms together, a pair of barsprojecting upward from the cross bar of the yoke, and a loop at theupper ends of said bars secured on the groove in the banister bar.

2. A banister mountable on low retaining walls of a flight of stepswhich comprises a banister bar having an annular groove near either endthereof, and a wall engaging bracket, each bracket comprising a yokehaving side arms for engaging the sides of a wall and a cross bar, teethformed on the inner faces of the arms of the yoke to grip the sides of awall, a boss formed on the inner face of each said arm, a headless boltthreaded into each said boss, a turn buckle into which the inner ends ofsaid bolts are threaded to draw the said arms together, a pair of barsprojecting upward from the cross bar of the yoke, and a loop at theupper ends of said bars secured on the groove in the banister bar.

3. A banister mountable'on low retaining walls of a flight of stepswhich comprises a banister bar having an annular groove near either endthereof, and a wall engaging bracket, each bracket comprising a yokehaving side arms for engaging the sides of a wall and a cross bar, teethformed on the inner faces of the arms of the yoke to grip the sides ofan engaged wall, a boss formed on the inner face of each said arm, aheadless bolt threaded into each said boss, a turn buckle into which theinner ends of said bolts are threaded to draw the said arms together, apair of bars projecting upward from the cross bar of the yoke, and aloop at the upper ends of said bars secured on the groove in thebanister bar, and a bolt passed through one of the last said bars andthreaded into the other to secure said loop on the banister bar.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 303,625 Crump Aug. 19, 1884 1,012,868 Laney Dec. 26, 19111,058,882 McCauley Apr. 15, 1913 1,380,928 Rowe June 7, 1921 1,401,509Bailey Dec. 27, 1921 1,536,361 Tomes May 5, 1925 2,427,723 Hawkins et a1Sept, 23, 1947

